<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Command by queenofkadara</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720601">Command</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofkadara/pseuds/queenofkadara'>queenofkadara</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>An Unquenchable Flame: Solas and Nare Lavellan (for Elbenherz) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dom Solas (Dragon Age), F/M, Light Dom/sub, Smut, Solas tells Nare to boss him around but WHO'S REALLY DOING THE BOSSING, Training turns into sex, We are trash for gentle dom Solas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:21:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,407</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720601</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenofkadara/pseuds/queenofkadara</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Solas told Nare that the Knight-Enchanter methods descended from the ancient elves, she wasn’t particularly surprised. What <em>did</em> surprise her, however, was the discovery that he was quite proficient at those methods.</p><p>He adjusted her grip on her spirit hilt, then stepped close and brushed his lips over her ear. “The way of the Knight-Enchanter teaches you to lead,” he murmured. “It requires you to take command. You will start practicing this now.”</p><p>She swallowed hard. “Solas, please, I just want–”</p><p>“Do not ask,” he interrupted. “<em>Tell</em> me what you wish me to do. Command me.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Female Lavellan/Solas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>An Unquenchable Flame: Solas and Nare Lavellan (for Elbenherz) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625761</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>97</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Command</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elvesinmyheart/gifts">Elvesinmyheart</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welcome welcome! This is inspired by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frW1RLkfYbk">Solas's canon dialogue if your mage Inquisitor specializes in the Knight-Enchanter method,</a> which is really interesting. Also, combat training-to-sex is A GREAT TROPE and I have no regrets.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nare frowned pensively as she made her way to the rotunda. It was going to be tricky to make the hilt for the spirit blade that Commander Helaine would be teaching her to conjure and use. The lazurite wasn’t the problem; she was sure Harritt still had some of the lustrous metal left from the last shipment of resources from the Western Approach. And she had no doubt that Dagna would be able to imbue the metal with the complex enchantment that would allow Nare to conjure a blade from the Fade at will.</p><p>The tricky part was the wisp essence. It was the crucial ingredient that would tether the metal to the Fade and allow the spirit blade to appear, but Nare was feeling a little leery about how to get her hands on it. Helaine had said that wisp essence could be carefully extracted from places where demons had died, and at first glance, that sounded simple enough: kill a few demons and collect the lingering essence before it drifted apart. But ever since she had helped Solas to free his spirit friend from that binding circle in the Exalted Plains, Nare had been feeling somewhat… uneasy about all the demons they’d been killing since this whole mess had started. The idea of attacking a spirit — corrupted or no — in order to loot its essence for her own means was making her uncomfortable, truth be told. </p><p>And it was this uncomfortable feeling that was driving her to consult Solas on the matter.</p><p>She padded into the rotunda, then smiled fondly when she spotted him; he was sitting on the couch with an open book in his lap, and his chin was propped on his fist. If anyone was watching him from the upper levels, they would think he was stroking his chin thoughtfully while reading.</p><p>He wasn’t reading, though. He was fast asleep. </p><p>Nare chuckled, then settled herself quietly on the couch beside him. The moment she sat down, his head jerked up. “Yes?” he blurted.</p><p>She grinned and slid closer to him. “Had a good nap, I trust?”</p><p>He blinked hard, then smiled at her. “I did, yes. Thank you.” He leisurely stretched his arms. “How can I help?” </p><p>She snuggled happily against his side while he was stretching. “You can start by telling me what you were reading. It might be useful the next time I’m having insomnia.”</p><p>Solas closed the book to show her the cover, and she raised her eyebrows. “Is that…. what language is that? Old Tevene?”</p><p>“It is, yes,” he said ruefully. “The written form of the language was rife with inconsistent spellings for approximately an age. It makes deciphering the text particularly time-consuming and complex.”</p><p>“Hence the mid-morning nap,” Nare said cheekily.</p><p>He smirked. “Perhaps I was consulting a spirit about the translation of this text.”</p><p>She giggled. “Of course you were. My mistake.”</p><p>Solas smiled at her, and Nare admired the contentment in his face before speaking again. “I do need a little help, though. I’ve decided to start some specialized combat training. Josie and Leliana invited a mage warrior to Skyhold to teach me melee-style combat using a blade formed from the Fade, but first I have to—”</p><p>“You are learning the <em>dirth’ena enasalin?</em>” Solas interrupted.</p><p>Nare blinked. “The — what?” she said blankly.</p><p>“The <em>dirth’ena enasalin,</em>” he repeated. “The method of the arcane warriors. Josephine found you a trainer in this method of combat?”</p><p>Nare eyed him with growing interest. She had no idea what he was talking about, but his expression was suddenly very alert, and she was eager to know what had <em>him</em> so interested.</p><p>“No, it’s — it’s the method of the Knight-Enchanter,” she said. “Leliana said Knight-Enchanters have a long history of defending the Chantry. Vivienne is a Knight-Enchanter, in fact.”</p><p>Solas’s eyebrows rose slightly. “I see. And the instructor is a mage trained in a Circle?”</p><p>“Yes,” Nare said. “Her name is Helaine — sorry, Commander Helaine.” She grimaced. “She was pretty insistent on being called that.”</p><p>Solas nodded thoughtfully and looked away from her, and Nare studied his profile with growing confusion. His expression was quite neutral, but there was a very faint crease between his eyebrows.</p><p>“Solas, you mentioned… the term you mentioned,” she said. “The <em>dirth’ena enasalin?</em>”</p><p>“Yes,” he said.</p><p>“Commander Helaine said the way of the Knight-Enchanter has elven roots,” Nare said. “Is that… do you know something about that?”</p><p>He rubbed his chin for a moment before looking at her once more. “If I am not mistaken, the techniques you describe descend from those of ancient elven mages called arcane warriors,” he told her. “The formal name for their techniques was the <em>dirth’ena enasalin</em>: ‘knowledge that led to victory’. Mages who eschewed physical confrontation called it <em>ghilan’him banal’vhen</em>: ‘the path that leads astray’.”</p><p>Nare frowned. “‘The path that leads astray’? That seems unkind.”</p><p>He smiled faintly. “It is a rivalry akin to that of strategists versus soldiers. Both are necessary and have their place in war, and neither can thrive without the other, whether they are willing to admit it or not.”</p><p>She hummed thoughtfully. “So the arcane warriors were like mage soldiers in the days of ancient Elvhenan?”</p><p>“They were elite guardsmen,” Solas explained. “Serving as bodyguards or champions for nobles, as I understand. Mages who focused on spirits or the Fade might sneer at their physicality, but never doubted their honour. They were the living embodiment of will made manifest: mind shaping the body into the perfect weapon.”</p><p>Nare raised her eyebrows. “That’s… wow.”</p><p>Solas tilted his head. “Is this not what Commander Helaine described to you?”</p><p>She shook her head. “Not… really. She focused on the method as being inherently tied to command and leadership. The arcane warriors sound like they <em>served</em> a commander, not that they were commanders themselves.”</p><p>“Perhaps I have done them a disservice in my description of their role, then,” Solas said softly. “The arcane warriors did far more than serve. But…” He trailed off and looked at his murals again, and Nare waited for him to go on.</p><p>He shook his head slightly, then met her eye once more. “I apologize, Nare. I interrupted you before. What were you going to ask?”</p><p>“Oh,” she said. “I was going to say that, um, before I start training, I need to collect materials for a special hilt for my spirit blade, but one of the materials I need is wisp essence. Commander Helaine said that it’s usually collected from defeating demons in combat.”</p><p>“That is one method, yes,” Solas said.</p><p>“I was hoping you could tell me another,” she said.</p><p>He raised his eyebrows slightly. “Why?”</p><p>“Well, I — I don’t know. It seems… wrong,” Nare said awkwardly. “Demons were spirits once, and collecting their essence for this feels… it would be like collecting blood from a dead enemy to use it in a weapon, wouldn’t it?” She shrugged. “It doesn’t feel right.”</p><p>Solas didn’t reply right away. When Nare looked up to meet his gaze, her heart thumped. He was gazing at her in the way he sometimes did, like he was both happy and sad at the same time.</p><p>He gently ran a hand over her hair. “It is kind of you to think of this,” he said softly. “And yes, I can show you another method of collecting wisp essence — one premised on cooperation rather than conflict. Would you like me to show you now?”</p><p>“Now?” she said in surprise. “You have the time?”</p><p>“I do,” Solas said. “I was sleeping prior to this, if you recall.”</p><p>Nare grinned. “I thought you were consulting with a spirit for translation assistance.”</p><p>Solas chuckled — a rare and precious sound of mirth — then rose from the couch and held out his hand, and Nare happily took his hand as she stood.</p><p>“Where are we going?” she asked.</p><p>“To your quarters,” Solas said.</p><p>Her belly leapt instinctively at the thought of going to her bedroom with Solas. Naturally, he noticed her reaction. “To sleep, Nare,” he said. “If you are not averse to joining me in the Fade, that is.”</p><p>His voice was wry with humour, and Nare valiantly tried to ignore the heat in her cheeks. “No, of course not,” she said hastily. “I mean — yes, whatever you, er, think.”</p><p>He smirked and gently squeezed her hand, then released her hand as they stepped into the Great Hall. She smiled and murmured greetings to the people in the Great Hall, but Solas was quiet as they made their way to her bedroom. When she turned to face him, it was to find him looking a little bit sad.</p><p>She stepped closer to him and stroked his arm. “Is something wrong?” she asked.</p><p>He lifted his eyes to hers. “No, <em>vhenan</em>,” he assured her. “I was simply thinking… I would be interested in watching your training once it commences, if I may.”</p><p>She blinked. “You want to watch me learning melee combat?”</p><p>“Yes, if you are agreeable,” he said.</p><p>Nare shrugged. “All right, if you like. Maybe you can learn it with me,” she added playfully.</p><p>He smiled faintly and rubbed his chin, and Nare eyed him with sudden suspicion. He’d known the ancient name for this method, and he was being unusually quiet now…</p><p>“Solas,” she said, “do you already know how to fight as a Knight-Enchanter?”</p><p>He shot her an apologetic look. “I have… some experience with the method.”</p><p>She gaped at him. “Wha—! Why didn’t you say so?”</p><p>“I am hardly an expert,” he said quickly. “And it is unlikely that the method I learned in the Fade is… congruent with Commander Helaine’s teachings.”</p><p>“Any experience is more than I have!” Nare said excitedly. “If you know the basics at least, maybe you can help me train!”</p><p>He continued rubbing his chin, then dropped his hand to his side. “I will consider it. In any case, you will not be able to start until you have your hilt.” He ushered her to the bed.</p><p>Nare climbed onto the bed, and when Solas was stretched out against the pillows, she snuggled up against his side. He draped his arm around her and gently twined his fingers in her hair. “I will see you in the Fade, <em>vhenan.</em>”</p><p>“All right,” she said. She closed her eyes and breathed slowly to relax into slumber, but she couldn’t quell the excitement in her chest at the idea of Solas training with her. He was so graceful with his staff; imagine how elegant and strong he would look wielding a sword…?</p><p><em>Hush, Nare,</em> she told herself. <em>First things first.</em> First she would have a hilt made for her spirit blade. Then, when she had started some basic training with Commander Helaine, maybe she would see just how familiar Solas was with wielding a sword of his own.</p><p>*********************************************</p><p>It took Harritt and Dagna three days to make the hilt for Nare’s spirit blade. While she was waiting, she began reading the book of Knight-Enchanter theory that Commander Helaine had given her. By the time the hilt was ready, Nare only had four days to start her training before she and her companions had to head out to the Storm Coast to meet Bull’s contact in the Ben-Hassrath.</p><p>In those four days, however, Nare became proficient enough at the conjuring of a spirit blade that even Commander Helaine was impressed in her own stern way. “An impressive blade indeed,” Helaine said briskly. “You are showing your penchant for command already, Inquisitor.”</p><p>Nare nodded her thanks and glanced at Solas, who was standing unobtrusively by the castle wall a few yards away. His arms were folded and his expression was calm, but when Nare met his gaze, the corners of his lips turned up in a faint smile.</p><p>Nare quelled her own smile and turned her attention back to Helaine. Neither she nor Solas had explicitly discussed it, but Nare had a sneaking suspicion that her facility at conjuring the spirit blade had something to do with the cooperative and non-confrontational method that she and Solas had used to collect the wisp essence for her hilt.</p><p>Unfortunately, learning close-range melee-style combat did not come as easily to Nare as the formation of the spirit blade. By the end of her very first session, she was sweating terribly and her arms and chest were aching from repelling Helaine’s blows. </p><p>Helaine straightened and frowned at Nare. “Continue your practice, Inquisitor,” she said firmly. “At least an hour per day; two or even three would be better. A spirit blade is little more than a symbol if you are unable to wield it with confidence.”</p><p>“Yes, Commander,” Nare panted, and she watched enviously as Helaine strode away. It seemed entirely unfair that Helaine could complete such a strenuous training session while hardly breaking a sweat. </p><p>She wiped her forehead and smiled ruefully at Solas, who was leaning against the wall as had become his norm. “Any comments?” she asked. “Suggestions, perhaps?”</p><p>He shook his head slightly. “I am simply watching.”</p><p>“Hm,” she murmured. Solas might be watching, but there was nothing simple about it. Nare knew him well enough by now to recognize the look on his face when he was thinking very deeply about something.</p><p>She tilted her head coyly. “Do you want to train with me yet?”</p><p>He smiled and dropped his arms to his sides. “Thank you, but no. And I suspect that you would not want to train with me, either.”</p><p>Nare blurted a laugh. “Solas! Was that a challenge?”</p><p>His smile widened. “It was not intended as such. I just thought you would be too tired at this moment.”</p><p>“In this moment right now, maybe,” she said drolly. “Try me later, though.”</p><p>“Perhaps,” he said mildly. He placed a gentle hand at the center of her back and ushered her toward the kitchens for something to eat, and Nare studied him shrewdly from the corner of her eye. He acted so reserved whenever he was watching her Knight-Enchanter training, and to the average person in the Inquisition, there was nothing unusual about his manner; to everyone else, he was Solas the reclusive apostate, and there was nothing odd about him watching the Inquisitor unobtrusively from the sidelines.</p><p>But Nare knew Solas in ways that nobody else in Skyhold did. She knew the passion that lurked beneath his quiet veneer, and she knew the authoritative commands that fell so easily from his lips when they were alone. And she knew without a doubt that he had some insight about this Knight-Enchanter specialization that he wasn’t quite ready to tell — or show — her yet.</p><p>And she was really looking forward to the moment when he would finally let her in on what he was keeping so close to the chest.</p><p>Her training was interrupted for a couple of weeks by their trip to the Storm Coast. Nare faithfully continued to drill on her own during their travels, forcing herself to practice every day before partaking in the evening meal with Cassandra, Solas, Varric and Bull, and Solas continued to watch her quietly with that intensely pensive look on his face.</p><p>A month went by. The drills came more fluidly to Nare, but not more easily; Helaine kept upping the complexity of her drills, pushing her to adopt more advanced and rapidly-executed moves while practicing her other magic-battle skills like the Fade cloak. Nare began drilling with Cullen’s troops when she was at Skyhold, and she trained with Cassandra and Blackwall as well, and all the while, Solas simply watched. </p><p>Then came the day when Helaine tried to teach Nare a combination that she could not seem to master, no matter how hard she tried. It involved a flurry of head-on strikes, cloaking in the Fade and flanking an enemy, and following up with a swift parry-and-thrust routine. Nare could perform the combination reasonably well with a normal blunted practice sword, but when she tried summoning her spirit blade in order to perform the combination in full, she couldn’t quite execute the steps fast enough to successfully block Helaine’s strike. </p><p>After about twenty minutes of unsuccessful practice, during which Nare stubbornly refused to take a break, Helaine held up a hand. “Hold, Inquisitor,” she said. “We will progress no further until you have mastered this. Practice with your comrades and fetch me when you are adequately prepared.” </p><p>Nare nodded brusquely in response. Once Helaine had walked away, she sighed heavily and wiped her face before turning to face Solas, who was leaning against the wall as usual.</p><p>He was frowning — a new reaction for him. Nare walked over to him and planted her hands on her hips. “Do you have any suggestions?” she said. “I could really use the help, as you can see.”</p><p>He pushed away from the wall and ran his palm over his scalp. “I may have an idea. I will show you tonight.”</p><p>“Why not now?” Nare asked.</p><p>He gave her a reproving look. “Because you’re frustrated and impatient, <em>vhenan</em>. This method of combat is a melding of mind and body. Both should be relaxed before you engage.” He held out a waterskin.</p><p>Nare sighed. He wasn’t wrong, unfortunately. “All right, fine,” she muttered, and she took the waterskin from his hand. “When will you show me?”</p><p>“When you’re ready,” he replied.</p><p>She shot him a little smirk as she lifted the waterskin to her lips. “You sound like Commander Helaine,” she said.</p><p>His expression flickered briefly — was that annoyance or sadness crossing his face? — then settled back into a neutral hint of a smile. “Tonight, then,” he said. “In the meantime, I have work to do on my translation of that volume in Old Tevene. We will speak later, Nare.”</p><p>“All right,” she said. She watched as he walked away, then finally took a drink of water. She wasn’t pleased about being unable to master this particular combination, but if it meant that Solas would be finally showing her what he knew about the methods of the Knight-Enchanter, well… she wasn’t entirely displeased. </p><p><em>Oh, don’t kid yourself,</em> she thought in exasperation. If she was totally honest, she was quite excited to see what Solas would show her. She and Solas had practiced their staffwork together on multiple occasions, and every single time without fail, their sessions ended in a very… <em>satisfying</em> manner. </p><p>If she was lucky, a training session in the <em>dirth’ena enasalin</em> with Solas would end in a similar way.</p><p>A little flush of heat bloomed low in Nare’s abdomen, despite her fatigue from training. She bit her lip to stop herself from smiling, then swiftly made her way toward the castle, fully intending to have a long relaxing bath. </p><p>If Solas was going to train with her tonight, then she <em>definitely</em> wanted to be relaxed and ready in mind and body both.</p><p>*****************************</p><p>Late that night, around the time that Nare would usually curl up on Solas’s couch with a book or her drawing pad, she walked into the rotunda carrying her spirit hilt and a practice sword instead.</p><p>Solas was sitting at his desk, and he looked up from his notes as she approached. “Ah. Nare,” he greeted. “How do you feel?”</p><p>“Ready,” she said with a confident smile. In truth, she’d been getting progressively more excited about training with Solas as the day had gone on. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way he moved when they usually trained together; each of his steps moved fluidly into the next like there was no separation between them, almost as though he was dancing. His face lit up when they were training, and he became far more animated than his usual calm smiles and gentle frowns: he would grin when he blocked her blows, and his lips would curl in a snarl when they were embroiled in an intractable sequence of parries, and when he pinned her against the wall with his staff across her throat, the roguish tilt of his eyebrows was enough to make her want to drop to her knees. And gods, when he began to sweat, the way he <em>smelled</em>... </p><p>Needless to say, her attempts to relax and calm herself had only been moderately successful. She’d tried to distract herself in multiple ways: she’d met with Josephine to discuss the pending alliances and trade agreements, and she’d gone to Dorian’s reading nook to work with him on a warding spell he was developing. Varric had even allowed her to proof-read the next chapter of the <em>Swords and Shields</em> sequel that he was writing for Cassandra, but none of it helped — especially not the excerpts she’d read from <em>Swords and Shields</em>. By the time she’d decided to come to the rotunda to request Solas’s earlier-promised help, any calm she was displaying was more of a thin veneer than an actual sense of serenity.</p><p><em>At least I’m not frustrated anymore,</em> she thought. Or, well… not frustrated in the way that she was while training with Helaine, at least.</p><p>Solas rose from his desk. “I’m happy to hear that,” he said. He walked over to the couch and reached for his belt, and Nare perked up when he began loosening the buckle.</p><p>Solas was still talking as he unbuckled his belt. “The thought I had while watching you is not so much a matter of technique, but of mindset,” he said. “Commander Helaine’s physical form is without reproach, and she is teaching you as such. Her incorporation of magic, on the other hand…” He removed his belt, then pulled his long-sleeved tunic over his head.</p><p><em>Yes,</em> Nare thought excitedly. Solas was wearing a fitted sleeveless shirt beneath his tunic, and she tried not to stare too obviously at the lean lines of his arms when he turned to face her.</p><p>He reached for her practice sword. “I will take that. You won’t have need of it.”</p><p>She handed him the blunted sword, and he set it on the desk and folded his hands behind his back. “Commander Helaine has taught you the way of the Knight-Enchanter,” he said. “I can’t speak to her methods directly, but I can tell you what I know of the <em>dirth’ena enasalin</em>.”</p><p>“Do you not think they’re the same methods anymore, then?” she said.</p><p>“Not quite, no,” Solas said. “The methods are similar in the way that a dragon and a wyvern are alike. Both are dangerous, both effective at subduing their prey, but… different enough that to call them one and the same is to do them both a disservice.”</p><p>“What’s so different about the Knight-Enchanter methods and the <em>dirth’ena enasalin?</em>” she asked.</p><p>“The method of the Knight-Enchanter merges the abilities of a mage and a warrior,” he said. “The <em>dirth’ena enasalin</em> is a singular unique method using magic for close-quarters combat. It is not a hybrid of two methods, but its own discipline.”</p><p>He was pacing slowly as he spoke, pacing in that slow and measured way that always reminded Nare of a prowling wolf. She watched him hungrily as she replied. “All right. What does that mean for my training?”</p><p>“As I said, it is a matter of mindset more than movement,” he said. He tilted his head. “The combination you were learning today: a physical block, a Fade cloak, and a series of parries with the spirit blade, yes?”</p><p>Nare nodded, impressed that he had broken that down. “Yes, that’s the sequence.”</p><p>“Precisely,” Solas said. “It is a sequence. That is how it has been taught to you: a set of moves, one after the next.” He paused in his pacing. “If I may make a suggestion?”</p><p>“Please do,” Nare said. “That's why I’m here.”</p><p>He nodded and resumed his casual pacing. “Instead of a series of moves, consider it as a singular gesture with a singular goal: to fend off your enemy and bring him to a state of vulnerability.”</p><p>Nare frowned slightly. “I’m… not sure what you mean.”</p><p>He stopped and turned to face her. “The Knight-Enchanter method is influenced by the Circle. It is inherent in their teachings that magic is not a part of the mage: that it is an aberration that the mage must learn to control. That attitude bleeds into the methods that you are being taught. But <em>you</em> were not raised in the traditions of the Circle, Nare,” he said emphatically. He stepped toward her. “Your magic is not a separate entity from yourself — something forbidden and wrong that must be caged. Your magic is an inseparable part of who you are.”</p><p>She swallowed hard; his voice was growing more passionate by the moment. “Y-yes, I know,” she said.</p><p>“I know you do,” he said. “And I believe this is why you are struggling with this sequence of moves. You are being taught to do one move, <em>then</em> activate your magic, then another move using your magic. But your magic is never inert. It is never <em>not</em> active,” he said firmly. “Trying to separate the physical from the arcane — to separate your mind and your body — is doing you a disservice.”</p><p>She frowned and thought about this for a long moment. “But… what does that mean for everything else Commander Helaine taught me so far?” she asked.</p><p>He shrugged. “It may change very little. Or it may change everything for the better. Only by practicing both methods can you determine if the <em>dirth’ena enasalin</em> is the better fit for you.”</p><p>She smirked despite her uncertainty. “Now that <em>really</em> sounds like Helaine.”</p><p>He shot her a chiding look. “You wanted my opinion. This is the insight that I can offer.”</p><p>“And I appreciate it, Solas,” she said hurriedly. “Really, I do. I’m not trying to be cheeky, I promise. I just… I don’t know how to incorporate that into what Commander Helaine has taught me.”</p><p>“Let us try something, then,” he said. He took a step closer to her. “Close your eyes.”</p><p>His closeness triggered a little leap of excitement in her belly, and there was a hint of command in his tone now that she particularly liked. She forced herself to focus on the content of his words rather than their delivery and obediently closed her eyes. </p><p>Solas’s mellifluous voice drifted over her. “Focus on your mana — on your connection with the Fade,” he said. “Remember that there was once a time when magic came as naturally to our people as breathing. You are a descendant of those times, Nare. Feel that history at your fingertips.”</p><p>He was circling slowly behind her as he spoke, and his voice was calm but firm — exactly the way she liked it when he was instructing her to do any kind of activity, whether chaste or carnal. </p><p>“Listen to the feeling beneath your skin,” Solas said quietly. “Feel your connection to the Fade, and keep it close.”</p><p>“All right,” she murmured. She breathed slowly through her rising lust and sank her attention into the feeling of her mana — that faint humming current in her blood that was always present and always faintly active, just as Solas had said. </p><p>Then the tips of his fingers rested on her hip.</p><p>She stopped breathing for a split second. Solas slid the hilt of her spirit blade out of the sheath at her hip, then placed it in her left hand. “Hold this,” he murmured.</p><p>She forced herself to inhale and wrapped her fingers around the hilt, and to her mild regret, Solas’s hands released hers. “The spirit blade is not a weapon,” he said. “It is simply a tool to extend your magic. The blade is not the weapon, Nare; you are.”</p><p>His voice was moving around behind her again, and a shiver of anticipation raced down the back of her neck. “I understand,” she breathed.</p><p>He was quiet for a moment. Then Nare heard the dull metallic sound of her practice sword being lifted from his desk. </p><p>“Open your eyes,” he said.</p><p>His words were delivered as a clear command, and Nare instantly followed. Solas was standing in front of her with the practice sword in hand. </p><p>“We will practice the movement that was eluding you today,” he said. “But practice it as that: a singular movement with the goal of making me vulnerable, not as a sequence.”</p><p>“How do I do that?” she asked.</p><p>“Your magic is always active,” Solas explained. “It is no more than a thought away. Activating it is not a separate step, nor is the formation of the spirit blade, for the blade is always there. It is all a single gesture, far faster than any possible sequence. Think of what you want to happen and will it into being, all in a single thought.”</p><p>She took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure it would be as easy as he made it out to be, but she owed it to him to try. “All right,” she said.</p><p>“When you are ready,” he said. He settled easily into a ready stance with the sword in hand, and Nare studied him in surprise. For someone who claimed to only have a passing knowledge of this method of combat, he certainly seemed comfortable settling into it.</p><p><em>I’ll ask him about that later,</em> she thought. She blew out a breath to brace herself, then nodded.</p><p>Solas swung at her with the practice sword. She blocked his blow, then disappeared into the threshold of the Fade with the Fade cloak move, and Solas lowered the sword and stepped back. “Stop,” he said.</p><p>She released the threads of the Fade that were hiding her. “I did it as a separate step, didn’t I?” she said ruefully.</p><p>“Exactly,” Solas said. “I am glad that you recognized it. Try again, and remember: the Fade is already at your fingertips. Drawing from it is not a separate step.”</p><p>She nodded, and he lunged at her once more. She blocked him and slid into the threshold of the Fade, but by the time she was behind him, her spirit hilt was bare, and the edge of Solas’s practice sword was resting alongside her neck. </p><p>“<em>Fenedhis,</em>” Nare muttered.</p><p>He stepped back and lowered his sword. “Again,” he said. “Once more, Nare.”</p><p>His voice was quiet but firm, and an inconvenient drop of lust trickled hotly down her throat and into her chest, but Solas was already lunging at her again. She blocked and moved into the Fade, spirit blade in place, parry-parry— </p><p><em>Damn.</em> She froze again. Solas’s blade was pressed to her right ribs. </p><p>“That was better,” he panted. “Again.”</p><p>She stared at him. He was smiling at her, and his chest was rising and falling as he breathed hard, and Nare was suddenly visited by a memory of how he’d once described himself as a youth: <em>young, cocky, and ready to fight…</em></p><p>Another rush of lust fanned through her chest and down to her abdomen, but Solas was already stepping away from her. Unable to reply, she nodded dumbly. </p><p>Solas rushed her again, but she was distracted and unprepared, and she failed to raise her blade in time to block. When his blade tapped her shoulder, he frowned. “Focus, Nare. Again.”</p><p><em>Oh gods,</em> she thought. His voice held a distinct snap of command now, and it was hardly helping her to gain the focus that he was asking for. </p><p>She nodded, and Solas rushed her. Block and Fade cloak and parry-parry-parry-lunge —  </p><p>Solas grunted with effort, and Nare’s focus — and her spirit blade — disappeared. A blink of an eye later, she stumbled to one knee as Solas loomed over her with the blunted blade once more at her neck. </p><p>“It is essential that you focus,” Solas said. “Stand up.”</p><p>“Yes, <em>hah’ren</em>,” she said without thinking. </p><p>His eyes widened, and Nare winced. She honestly hadn’t meant to call him that right here in the middle of the rotunda. Not that many people were still around to hear it this late at night, and not that it would mean anything to anyone else — especially not the way that Nare and Solas meant it in private. But the way he was looking at her now, with his jaw tense and his eyebrows raised like she’d done something bad… </p><p>Another inconvenient flare of desire bloomed between her legs, and she pressed her lips together hard. Damn it, <em>damn it</em>, now she <em>really</em> wanted him. </p><p>They stayed frozen for a tense moment, Nare on one knee while Solas held the blunted sword to her neck. Then, finally, he lowered the blade and spoke in a very quiet voice.</p><p>“Stand up, <em>da’len</em>,” he said.</p><p><em>Da’len.</em> A dizzying rush of anticipation pulsed low in her belly. Without breaking from his gaze, she stood up carefully and waited for him to speak. </p><p>He studied her in silence. His expression was stern and his posture proud and commanding, and worst of all — best of all — his clear blue-grey eyes were blazing with heat. </p><p>He stepped away from her and clasped his hands behind his back. “Perform the move without me,” he said. </p><p>She licked her lips. “Why–”</p><p>“Now, Nare,” he said. “I will not ask again.”</p><p><em>Fuck,</em> she thought excitedly. This was <em>her</em> Solas was coming out: her authoritative lover with his authoritative voice and his gentle grey eyes, and if she wanted him to deliver what his beautiful heated eyes were promising, she knew what she had to do: please him with her training.</p><p>She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and the spirit blade sprang to life in her hand. She shifted smoothly through the moves: block, Fade cloak, parry-parry-parry-lunge.</p><p>She stopped and looked askance at him, and he shook his head. “You are performing a sequence. Do it again.”</p><p>She sighed, then closed her eyes for a moment to center herself. She shifted through the moves one more time. </p><p>“Again,” Solas ordered. “Focus.”</p><p><em>With you talking in that tone? Impossible,</em> she thought. She took another slow breath and tried to ignore the buzz of desire thrumming through her limbs, then executed the combination again.</p><p>Solas rubbed his chin in frustration, then strode toward her. “It is not enough to perfect the moves. You must move with purpose, <em>da’len</em>. With a goal in mind.” He circled around behind her and grasped her wrist.</p><p>Her breath stalled with excitement at his firm grip, and Solas tapped the hilt in her hand. “This is not the weapon, Nare. The weapon is all of this.” He ran his fingers along her bare arm. </p><p>A ripple of goosebumps followed the trail of his fingers, but he was still instructing her in a deliciously clipped tone. “You must remember that <em>you</em> are the weapon. Your mana makes your body a weapon, and your focus allows you to channel your strength through the hilt in your hand.” He adjusted her posture, pressing her shoulders low and adjusting the angle of her arm, and Nare stood in silence and fantasized shamelessly about him touching in a far more carnal capacity.  </p><p>When he spoke again, his voice was quiet and close to her ear. “When you are in the heat of battle, every move you make should be a harmony of your magic and your physical form.” Then he placed his hand on her ribs, just beneath her breast. </p><p>“Breathe,” he murmured in her ear.</p><p>She couldn’t. She couldn’t breathe. His hand on her body, so close to her breast — gods, she wanted him to touch her. “Solas—”</p><p>He cut her off. “It must feel like breathing, Nare. That is how it must feel when you are drawing on your mana. It must be as natural and seamless as the flow of air into your lungs.” He slid his hand down her waist and gripped her hip. “Step forward.”</p><p>She obediently moved with his hand. The spirit blade was in her hand – no, it <em>was</em> her hand, and without thinking, she swung it in a smooth block. Solas stepped away from her, and she whirled around, raising her Fade cloak as she did and sweeping straight into a parry-parry-parry-lunge— </p><p>Then Solas was in front of her again with the practice sword in hand. He blocked then lunged at her, and she slid into a Fade cloak and brought the spirit blade down toward his arm.</p><p>He deflected her with a swift barrier and swung at her leg. Without hesitation, without thinking, Nare dodged away and threw up a barrier and whirled around once more, then swiftly brought the spirit blade toward the side of his neck.</p><p>She was a second too slow. By the time her spectral blade was a whisper from his neck, he was a mere foot away from her, and his blade was pressed across her belly. </p><p>They froze in their respective positions, and Solas grinned. “Your match, <em>da’len</em>,” he said. “The wound you dealt would be lethal, whereas mine would not.”</p><p>She couldn’t reply. She couldn’t think. Solas was smiling at her with that special brand of boyish delight that he reserved especially for these sorts of sessions, and there was a fine sheen of sweat on his cheeks and nose, and – Creators save her, she could smell him. Warm skin and the sweetness of sleep-perfumed cotton sheets, and a hint of musky masculine sweat that made her think of leather and sunlight and his naked body lounging in her bed–</p><p>“Please,” she blurted. “Please kiss me.”</p><p>His eyebrows jumped up. He stepped away from her and glanced cagily at the upper levels of the rotunda, but Nare didn’t care; she didn’t care who was watching or listening, she didn’t <em>care</em>, she just… the look on his face and his lean trimmed waist and his commanding tone and the scent of his skin – gods, she just wanted him.</p><p>He placed the practice sword on his desk and folded his arms. “There is one aspect of Commander Helaine’s training that I must commend,” he said quietly. </p><p>She gazed pleadingly at him. She didn’t want to talk about Knight-Enchanter methods anymore. “Solas…” </p><p>She trailed off. His folded arms and the angle of his chin spoke of stubbornness, and it was both frustrating and arousing – and all the more frustrating for how fucking <em>arousing</em> it was. </p><p>She clenched her jaw, then gave in. “What aspect do you commend?” she asked, somewhat resentfully. </p><p>Solas studied her a for a second longer, then held out his hand. Nare eagerly took his hand, then followed him toward the doorway that led into the Great Hall. When they were in the short corridor between the rotunda to the hall, Solas suddenly rounded on her and crowded her against the wall.</p><p>She gasped in excitement. His palms were flat on the wall beside her head, and she opened her mouth to beg for him to touch her, but she couldn’t find the breath to speak: his hips were pressing against hers, and Mythal save her, she could <em>feel</em> him, his cock, the hardness of his cock, she could – please, <em>please…</em></p><p>“Solas,” she begged.</p><p>“Quiet, Nare,” he whispered. He nudged her legs apart with his knee, then dipped his head and brushed her lips with a delicate kiss. </p><p>Her breath hitched with excitement, and she parted her lips in welcome. But instead of kissing her more firmly, Solas kept the kiss soft and light, tugging gently at her lower lip with his own and tasting her lips with tiny teasing flicks of his tongue when she tried to deepen the kiss. Meanwhile, his knee was lifting higher to press lightly at the juncture of her thighs – <em>lightly</em> being the operative word, so lightly that it was torturous. </p><p>She whimpered in frustration and tilted her hips down to press herself against the hard lines of his thigh. “Please, <em>hah’ren</em>,” she mewled. </p><p>He ran his thumb over her lips to silence her, then gave her one more frustratingly light kiss before dropping his mouth to her ear. “The way of the Knight-Enchanter teaches you to lead,” he murmured. “It requires you to take command. You will start practicing this now.”</p><p>His voice was laced with a purr of laughter, and his thigh was still pushing gently against the apex of her thighs – too gently to do anything more than tempt and torture her. She whimpered with frustration and twisted her hips toward his thigh. “Solas, please, I just want–”</p><p>“Do not ask,” he interrupted. “<em>Tell</em> me what you wish me to do. Command me.”</p><p>“Fuck me,” she said instantly. “Take me to my room and fuck me.”</p><p>He smiled at her, then stepped away. “An excellent command, Inquisitor.” He bowed his head deferentially and gestured toward the door. </p><p>Nare smirked at his playful humility, then stepped into the Great Hall and made a beeline for her quarters with Solas in her wake. A minute later, they were stepping into her bedroom.</p><p><em>Finally alone,</em> she thought feverishly. She’d spent most of this day fantasizing about the moment she would finally have Solas to herself, and now that they were finally here, her excitement was rising ever higher. </p><p>She turned around to find him watching her. His hands were clasped humbly behind his back and his head was tilted, and his expression was one of benign expectation. He looked so mild-mannered and so fucking calm, and he was making no moves to touch or approach her, and it only made Nare want to goad him into his usual dominant ways that she so adored. </p><p>He raised his eyebrows. “Well?”</p><p><em>Cocky,</em> she thought in amusement. He was so cocky, with his calm stillness and his hands behind his back, and it only heightened her wish to break his cool.</p><p>She eyed him boldly, then started unbuttoning her sleeveless vest. Solas’s eyebrows rose slightly, but he didn’t speak or move, not even when Nare shucked her vest and pulled off her breastband. </p><p>She dropped the breastband on the floor and waited with rising anticipation; Solas’s eyes were roaming already over the curves of her breasts and the planes of her belly. By the time his gaze returned to her face, his expression was distinctly predatory.</p><p>“Do you have a command for me?” he said.</p><p>Nare didn’t speak; she didn’t want to command him. She wanted him to command <em>her</em>.</p><p>Without dropping his gaze, she unlaced her breeches and dropped them to her feet. Then, very deliberately, she turned around so her back was facing him. Slowly and sinuously, she began pulling her smallclothes down, arching her spine slightly to tempt his gaze and deliberately bending over as she eased her smalls down to her ankles.</p><p>Behind her, she heard Solas’s slow exhale, and the sound of it lifted the delicious buzz between her legs to a heated pulse. <em>Keep going,</em> she told herself. <em>Keep tempting him, and he’ll crack.</em> Without straightening up, she released her hair from its practical bun. </p><p>Her long auburn hair tumbled down around her shoulders. She raked her hair away from her face and glanced at Solas over her shoulder. </p><p>His eyes were fixed on her ass, and Nare could <em>feel</em> exactly what he was seeing: the slick shine of her lust painting her pussy and marking her as ready for him – for any part of him: his fingers, his tongue, his cock, <em>anything</em> he would deign to give her. She breathed carefully through her lust and trailed her the tips of her fingers up along the back of her own thigh, then smoothed her palm over her bare buttock, and she watched with rising satisfaction as his chest rose with the slow intake of his breath.</p><p>To her dismay, however, he took a step away from her. She straightened and turned around to face him. “<em>Hah’ren</em>, please–” </p><p>He held up one finger to silence her. “I do not hear a command, Nare. If you are unable to deliver a command, then I will be unable to satisfy you.”</p><p>“Can you demonstrate for me?” she asked.</p><p>His eyebrows rose. “You need a demonstration of how to command?”</p><p>“Yes, exactly,” she said eagerly. She gave him a coy smile. “I think if <em>you</em> command me first, then I’ll be able to use you as a good example. “</p><p>The corners of his lips twitched, and Nare nearly laughed as well. She could tell from the hint of amusement in his face that he knew exactly what she was after. </p><p>She was grateful when he indulged her all the same; he nodded sagely and rubbed his chin. “All right. A brief demonstration, and then you will resume command. Now kneel.”</p><p>His final words were delivered in a sharp command, and Nare’s pulse instantly spiked with anticipation. She dropped to her knees, and Solas took a step closer to her.</p><p>She watched avidly as he sauntered toward her. When he was a mere foot away, she reached for his breeches. </p><p>He grabbed her wrist. “Did I command you to touch me?”</p><p>She swallowed hard; his voice had the loveliest hint of a growl to it now. “No, <em>hah’ren</em>,” she said.</p><p>“That is correct. I did not,” he said. He stepped closer to her, close enough that she was just inches away from him – mere inches from the divine bulge between his legs. He reached down to untie his breeches, and Nare watched with rising desperation as he untucked his undershirt, then parted the opening of his breeches and pulled out his cock.</p><p>A rush of saliva flooded the back of her tongue, and she and shifted restlessly on her knees. When he took his hard length in his fist, she whimpered. “Solas, please…”</p><p>He reached down with his free hand and lifted her chin. “You will take me into your mouth, Nare – as deep as you can. You will not stop until you have swallowed every drop of my release.”</p><p>Every word he spoke was like a little flare of heat pooling between her legs. He was stroking himself slowly as he spoke, and it was making her jealous of his hand. “Yes, <em>hah’ren</em>,” she mewled. “Please–”</p><p>His fingers tightened on her jaw. “If you wish to stop, if it becomes too much for you, you will tap my thigh. Is this understood?”</p><p>She nodded eagerly. “Yes, <em>hah’ren</em>.”</p><p>“Good,” he said quietly, and he released her jaw. “Open your mouth.” </p><p>She instantly did as she was told, and Solas stepped closer and slid his cock between her lips. She angled her head slightly to take him deeper, and when he was so deep that her nose was brushing his belly, he exhaled slowly and slid his fingers through her hair.</p><p><em>Yes,</em> she thought feverishly. <em>Yes, yes, please…</em> His elegant fingers were drifting along the crown of her head, and Nare held her breath as his other hand gently stroked her nape. When he began collecting her hair in his hands, she moaned.</p><p>Or she tried to moan, at least; his cock was so deep in her throat that she couldn't breathe, much less make a sound. Literally breathless with need, she clenched her fists on her knees and waited until her hair was gathered in his fist.</p><p>He withdrew from her mouth while gently pulling her hair, and as soon as she was able, Nare dragged in a sharp breath and moaned. Then he was sliding back into her throat with his fingers firmly in her hair, and her desperation climbed higher with his every slow thrust. His fingers were slowly tightening in her hair and lifting the perfect degree of pain to the roots of her hair, and his slow and heavy breathing sounded more beautiful than morning birdsong, and his cock – Creators, his cock, the perfect length of it and the way he filled her throat so completely that she couldn’t make a sound unless he willed it…</p><p>She restlessly wiggled her hips and dug her nails into her own thighs to try and calm herself, but to no avail; her need for Solas was like a weight swelling in her chest and her throat and between her legs to the point that she almost couldn’t stand it. He fed himself into her throat in a slow and steady rhythm, guiding himself with his hand twined in her hair exactly as she liked, and by the time his steely length was hardening even further with his impending climax, the pulse at the apex of her thighs was so forceful that it was distracting.</p><p>His hand suddenly tightened in her hair, sending an exquisite ripple of pain across her scalp, and when he came, the sound he made… Fen’Harel save her, it was beautiful. It was like a cross between a sigh and a groan, smooth and growly and uninhibited, and the sound of his satisfaction was more than Nare’s overeager body could tolerate: a lust-fuelled tear trickled down her cheek, and a drop of her own desire traced its way along her inner thigh.</p><p>He groaned and released her hair to stroke her jaw. “Nare—” </p><p>She grabbed his hips and pulled him close, determined to swallow every drop of his come just as he’d commanded. He gasped and cupped the back of her head, and Nare suckled him hard and fast as his climax coursed down her willing throat. A delicious minute later, he stepped back and dropped to his knees in front of her. </p><p>He clasped her neck in his palms and took her lips in a fierce open-mouthed kiss, and she moaned shamelessly into his mouth. His tongue was delving into her mouth, stroking her tongue in a sensual sweep that only served to heighten her desperation even more, and Nare dug her fingers into his hips and submitted shamelessly to the pleasure of his lips slanting firmly over hers and the twining of their tongues.</p><p>His teeth pressed gently into her lower lip, and she let out a tiny sob of want. He broke the kiss and stroked her neck with his thumbs, and Nare stared adoringly at him: his cheeks were pink with pleasure, and his gaze was infinitely tender and soft. </p><p>He smoothed her tear away with his thumb. “Are you all right?” he murmured.</p><p>She nodded eagerly and rose to her feet, but when Solas started to rise, she stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “No,” she said. “Stay on your knees.”</p><p>In the blink of an eye, his expression shifted from tender to heated. He smiled slowly at her. “Are you ready to command, <em>da’len</em>?” </p><p>“Yes,” she said as firmly as she could. </p><p>His smile broadened, and he sat back on his heels. “What would you have of me?”</p><p>She inhaled slowly to muster her courage. For all the times she’d issued orders to her companions in the field, <em>this</em> felt infinitely different. In this private arena, Nare had always ceded blissfully to Solas’s skillful and commanding hands. This marked the first time that she would try to take charge of him instead.</p><p>She swallowed hard, then boldly lifted her chin. “I want you to lick me,” she said.</p><p>His eyes dropped between her legs, and his heated gaze was almost like a trigger; the buzz of desire between her legs pulsed, and she instinctively tilted her hips toward him.</p><p>His tongue darted out to wet his lower lip, and his eyes returned to her face. “Ask me again, <em>da’len</em>. More firmly.” </p><p>Mythal save her, his <em>voice</em>... He might be telling her to order him around, but the smoothness of his voice was still steely with command, and she didn’t dare to disobey him. </p><p>She drew another bracing breath. “Take off your clothes and lie on the bed,” she ordered. </p><p>His lips curled in a hint of a smile. “May I stand first?”</p><p>She forced herself not to smile in return; she was trying to be a commander befitting of the Knight-Enchanters, after all. “I’ll allow it,” she said sternly. </p><p>He bowed his head humbly, then rose to his feet and pulled his undershirt over his head. He dropped his breeches and removed his foot wraps, and by the time he was nude in all his lean-muscled glory, she was so desperate for his touch that she almost threw herself at him.</p><p>She forced herself to resist and pointed at the bed. “Lie down,” she said firmly.</p><p>He bowed his head once more, then stepped past her, and she followed him toward the bed. She folded her arms and waited for him to lie down–</p><p>He suddenly looped his arm around her waist and dragged her close, and Nare’s gasp of surprise was cut off by his tongue delving into her mouth. He sealed his lips over hers and licked her tongue, and – oh fuck, <em>oh fuck</em>, his thigh was pushing up between her legs and his hand was sliding up her ribs–</p><p>He thumbed her nipple roughly, and a dizzying bolt of pleasure coursed through her body. She arched her spine and thrust her hips down to meet his thigh, and he palmed her breast before rolling her nipple between his fingers, and Creators save her, this was what she’d wanted, it was what she’d been wanting all fucking day…</p><p>Nare moaned around his tongue, then suddenly nipped his lip with her teeth.</p><p>He gasped and released her, and Nare watched in a daze of lust as he touched his lower lip. He glanced at his fingers, and finding no blood, he looked up at Nare with wide eyes. “You bit me,” he said blankly. </p><p>She nervously licked her lips, then folded her arms and lifted her chin once more. “Well, I didn’t command you to kiss me, did I?”</p><p>He stared at her for a second. Then a very feral and <em>very</em> heated smile stretched across his face. “No, you didn’t,” he said softly. </p><p><em>Please fuck me,</em> she thought desperately – both as a curse and a plea. The look on his face, the looming cant of his shoulders: she knew this posture and expression well. It was the way he looked when he was a mere step away from shoving her down on the bed and fucking her so thoroughly that she was sobbing his name into her sheets. </p><p>But he had told her to command him, and she didn’t want to disobey… </p><p>She frowned at him and pointed at the bed again. “Lie down on your back. Now,” she said. </p><p>“And once I am lying down?” he said. “What will happen then?”</p><p>“I’ll fuck your mouth,” she said. </p><p>The blunt words left her lips before she could stop to think about them. They hung in the air between her and Solas like a spritz of perfume, and by the look of utter surprise on his face, he hadn’t expected to hear such words any more than she had expected to say them. </p><p>She dropped his gaze. “I’m… I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have–”</p><p>“No,” he said firmly. “Do not apologize, Nare. I… you should continue. You are doing extremely well.” </p><p>She lifted her eyes to his face, and a fresh bolt of lust – and surprise – pulsed low down in her belly: he looked more intense than ever, and already his cock was at half-mast once more. </p><p>“You liked that?” she said uncertainly.</p><p>“I did,” he confirmed. He slid onto the bed and lay on his back. “Now come, <em>da’len</em>. Come and do as you promised.”</p><p>She wasted no time following his suggestion. She crawled onto the bed and straddled his face, and before she could even settle herself, Solas’s hands were on her ass and pulling her down to his mouth. </p><p>He ran his tongue between her legs before treating her lust-slicked folds to an ardent kiss, and Nare gasped loudly and braced her palms on the headboard. She rolled her hips toward his face, but she barely had to move to get the pleasure that she wanted; his lips and tongue were moving together in tandem, caressing her flesh like he was trying to collect every drop of the nectar between her legs while his tongue swirled perfectly around the swollen little bud of her clit, and Nare moaned and twisted her hips with shameless enjoyment as he pleasured her with his perfect plump mouth.</p><p>He smoothed his palms over her bottom and squeezed, then curled his hands around her thighs, and all the while he was teasing her clit with his hot and agile tongue, coaxing her climax inexorably higher with every skillful movement of his mouth. Nare clenched her fists against the headboard and ground her hips down toward his mouth and tried to breathe, and when her climax suddenly rippled through her body, she threw her head back and let out a wild cry. </p><p>“Solas!” she wailed. “Fuck me, <em>please!</em>”</p><p>He lowered his mouth from between her legs. “Do not ask me,” he said. “Command me.”</p><p>She sobbed with frustration, then shakily unmounted his face and kneeled beside him while eyeing his cock, which was standing proud and tall once more.  </p><p>She dragged her eyes back to his face. “Fuck me,” she said in a hard tone. “Fuck me right now. That’s an order.” </p><p>He slowly sat upright. “How should I do that, <em>da’len</em>?”</p><p>“From behind,” she said. “I – kneel behind me and fuck me. And put your hand on my throat,” she added eagerly. She was being bold now, more bold than she’d ever dared to be with any other man, but Solas was not like any other man. He was tender and commanding and playful and determined to bring her pleasure, and he challenged her in ways that she’d never expected to be challenged – like right now, here, in their bedroom. He challenged her to demand what she wanted, and what she wanted more than anything was to be pleasured by Solas’s beautiful body and his patient hands and tongue. </p><p>He smiled slowly at her, then bowed his head. “I’m afraid you may need to show me what you mean.”</p><p>She smiled helplessly in return; she supposed she deserved this for teasing him before. She settled herself on her hands and knees. “Like this,” she said. “Get behind me now.” </p><p>He shuffled into place behind her, then reached over her shoulder and gently wrapped his fingers around her throat. Then, to her surprise, he pulled on her shoulder with his other hand, forcing her to sit back on her knees. </p><p>He pulled her back against his chest and pressed his lips to her ear. “Like this, <em>da’len</em>?” he murmured. </p><p>She gasped and arched her spine. His hand was squeezing her throat with the perfect pressure, and his cock was brushing against her lower back like the most torturous tease, and her body was absolutely throbbing to be filled by him. “Yes,” she moaned. “Yes, like this, just like– <em>fuck!</em>” She cried out and jerked her hips; Solas had swiftly adjusted his manhood to slide between her folds in a torturous caress. </p><p>She sobbed with longing and pressed her bottom back toward his groin, but he was still speaking in a firm low voice against her ear. “Tell me, Nare,” he said. “Tell me exactly how I should fuck you.”</p><p>Her lust suddenly trebled at his use of the word ‘fuck’. Solas almost never swore in the common tongue unless they were in the bedroom, and only then because he knew she liked it. </p><p>And all of a sudden, with that one simple word, Nare’s inhibitions broke.</p><p>“I want you to fuck me hard,” she blurted. “I want you deep inside of me, and I want you to make me come all over your cock.”</p><p>His fingers tightened on her throat, and he pumped his hips against her bottom. “And then?” he breathed. “What would you have me do next?” </p><p>She dragged in another breath. His cock was such a terrible tease between her legs, and his hand was so perfect around her throat and yet not enough to satisfy, and it made her want to scream. “I want you to fuck me as fast or slow as <em>you</em> want,” she said recklessly. “I want you to fill me up with your come, and then I want you to pull out <em>slowly</em> and watch as your come drips down my leg so you can see just how well you fucked me.”</p><p>By the time her filthy wishes were done, Solas was pumping his hips swiftly against her bottom, and his breathing was rapid and hot against her ear. “I will do as you say,” he panted. “You must simply tell me when.”</p><p>“Now,” she blurted. “Now, right now, right– <em>ah!</em>” She cried out with surprise and ecstasy as he suddenly thrust inside of her. </p><p>She braced her palms on the headboard, then jolted and cried out again as Solas slammed into her hard. His hand was still around her throat, and his other hand was pinning hers to the headboard, and as he fucked her with exactly the sort of hard fast strokes that she had asked for, he murmured breathless praises into her ear. </p><p>“<em>Ina’lan’ehn</em>,” he moaned. “You are so beautiful, Nare. And I am so – <em>ah</em> – so proud of you…” </p><p>“Why?” she whimpered. “Proud of what?”</p><p>“Everything,” he blurted, and he thrust into her so hard that it made her cry out. “Your thoughtfulness, your willingness to learn, your… <em>fenedhis</em>, your provocative words…”</p><p>She let out a breathless laugh. “Provocative words? You mean my dirty talk?”</p><p>“Yes, precisely,” he groaned. “Such words in the common tongue, I didn’t think…” He trailed off and pressed his lips to her skin, and a shiver of delighted goosebumps rippled across her back. </p><p>He released her throat to run his palm down her back. “On your elbows, Nare,” he moaned. </p><p>She shot him a smirk over her shoulder. “I thought <em>I</em> was the one commanding.”</p><p>“Now, Nare,” he snapped. “Lean forward now so I may fuck you the way you asked.”</p><p>His words sent a fresh surge of heat and pleasure through her body, and she followed his lead and adjusted her position so she was on her knees and elbows. Solas grasped her hips and filled her in a hard smooth stroke, and Nare cried out and shoved her fist against her mouth. He was absolutely correct; this angle was perfect, allowing his cock to strike her inner walls in the exact exquisite way that her climax began to coil in the depths of her core. </p><p>He thrust into her again and carded his fingers through her hair, and Nare gasped. “Yes!” she cried. “Pull my hair, <em>yes!</em>”</p><p>He gathered her hair his hand, then began fucking her in a sweet and rapid rhythm while he pulled her hair, and Nare bit her knuckles in ecstasy. Her climax was writhing and building, coiling and tensing deep inside of her with greater strength with Solas’s every driving thrust. Just when her rapture was about to strike, Soals released her hair and slid his fingers around her throat once more.</p><p>It was too much and just enough: her climax finally burst, and she felt it in every muscle of her body, from her flexing toes all the way up to her throat that was crying out his name in a feral sob of pleasure. Before she could fully recover, he was grabbing her hips again and fucking her hard and fast, and Nare closed her eyes in ecstasy. His rapid heavy breathing, the gorgeous sound of his grunting as he filled her in a perfect driving rhythm, the way his hips were slamming against the roundness of her ass: it was perfect, completely perfect and exquisite and pleasurable and – gods, <em>he</em> was perfect, so patient and dominant and kind, and the pleasure he gave her was inseparable from the love they shared. When Solas finally came with a guttural and animalistic groan, Nare was so happy that she could almost cry from the contentment alone.</p><p>He smoothed his palm along her sweat-laced back and dropped a gentle kiss on her shoulder blade. Then, slowly as she’d asked, he pulled out of her, and a hot trickle of his seed ran down the inside of her thigh.</p><p>Solas sighed and smoothed his hand over her buttock. “Nare, you are… truly a marvel.”</p><p>She smiled over her shoulder at him and rested her cheek on the bed. She <em>knew</em> he’d enjoy the sight of his own seed marking her body. She contentedly remained on her knees while Solas smoothed his palm over her bottom and studied the evidence of his own pleasure. </p><p>Then he lifted his gaze to her face. His expression was soft and tender, and Nare’s heart did a happy little flip. </p><p>She settled onto her side. “Come lay down with me?” she said.</p><p>“I would be happy to,” he said, and he settled on his back beside her and pulled her close. She happily tucked herself against his side, and for a long and blissful moment, she simply basked in the heat of his naked skin and the scent of his sweat-laced body as his fingers slid through her hair in a gentle caress. When her skin started to cool, she shivered, and Solas solicitously pulled one of the sheets up over her.</p><p>She smiled goofily at him, and he returned her smile. “What are you thinking of, <em>vhenan</em>?” he said.</p><p>She shrugged. “I was just thinking how handsome you look swinging a sword around. It was very heroic-looking.” </p><p>He huffed and looked up at the canopy of the bed, and Nare chuckled and slid her leg over his. “Seriously though, I’m impressed. You’re at least as good as some of Cullen’s soldiers. You must have worked hard in the Fade to get that good.”</p><p>He tucked his arm behind his head. “I was fortunate to have encountered some very… disciplined friends in the Fade. Friends who held the memories of the arcane warriors,” he said. Then he gave her a rueful look. “You’ll recall that I mentioned some mages who disdain those who utilize their magic for physical confrontation. Perhaps you can guess who one of those mages was.”</p><p>Nare raised her eyebrows, then laughed. “You didn’t.”</p><p>“I did,” he admitted wryly. “It’s fortunate that the friends I made were patient enough to show me the error of my ways.”</p><p>Nare smiled. “What sort of spirits were they? Your friends who taught you?”</p><p>His smile softened, and with a pang, Nare recognized a hint of the melancholy that he sometimes wore. “Duty,” he said softly. “Determination and valour, as well. And… sorrow.”</p><p>Nare gently stroked his chest. “Is that why you were upset at first when I told you about the Knight-Enchanter methods?”</p><p>He looked at her quizzically, and she grimaced. “Well, not upset exactly, but… you were quiet. Pensive. You seemed troubled.”</p><p>His expression cleared with comprehension, but it remained slightly sad. “Ah,” he said. “I was simply wondering what the ancient warriors would think to see their magic used in defense of the Chantry.” </p><p>Nare studied him sympathetically. She understood how he felt. From what he’d told her, the Knight-Enchanter method was yet another piece of ancient elvhen culture that had been appropriated by humans.</p><p>“Well, I’m not using it to defend the Chantry per se,” she reminded him. “I’ll be using it to defend anyone who needs our help. And with you helping me to learn the <em>dirth’ena enasalin</em>, my technique will be more authentic,” she added brightly. “A revival of something that’s really ours, even if it’s changed in some ways.”</p><p>He looked at her, and her heart did another little flip; his smile was a complex mixture of fondness and melancholy. </p><p>She gently stroked his cheek. “What’s wrong, Solas?” she asked softly. </p><p>“Nothing,” he murmured. “At this moment, nothing is wrong.” He sighed and stroked her arm in a slow caress. “Would that we could remain in this moment indefinitely.”</p><p>“That would be nice,” she agreed. “But at least we can stay here for the rest of the night.”</p><p>“That is true,” Solas said softly. </p><p>Nare smiled and graced his lips with a kiss. She understood his melancholy; it was, after all, a melancholy that all elves shared, including Nare herself. But for now, draped over his naked body in the comfort of her bed, she would enjoy the present moment. </p><p>For now, she would savour the plumpness of Solas’s lips and the tangle of his fingers in her hair, and she would be comforted by the knowledge that he would continue to teach her the ways of the past.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Feel free to check out <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625761">the rest of this series</a> for more of Solas and Nare's adventures!</p><p>Nare belongs to the unbelievably talented and sweet <a href="https://elbenherzart.tumblr.com/">Elbenherzart,</a> and I am <a href="https://pikapeppa.tumblr.com/">Pikapeppa,</a> your friendly neighbourhood smut writer. xoxo</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>